The Argentine national team is haunted by a curse that causes it to lose its first match at the following World Cup after being crowned champions. In this sense, the team will aim to break this negative streak at the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada when it faces Algeria on June 16 of next year in the first match of Group J. According to a survey by the Noticias Argentinas agency, the national team has lost both of its opening matches after having been world champions in the previous tournament. Between the 1974 West Germany and 2002 South Korea/Japan World Cups, the reigning champion played the opening match, not the host nation. In that way, Argentina “opened” the 1982 World Cup in Spain on June 13 with a 1-0 loss to Belgium at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, with a goal by Erwin Vandenbergh in the 17th minute of the second half, in Group 3. The national team, which had a debutantDiego Maradona and was coached byCésar Luis Menotti, recovered with wins of 4-1 over Hungary and 2-0 against El Salvador to finish second to the Belgians (5 points) and advance to the next stage with 4 points. Later, it was Group C, and the team was eliminated after losing 2-1 to Italy (who would be the champion) and 3-1 to Brazil. Another negative incident occurred at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, when on June 8 at the San Siro stadium in Milan, they lost 1-0 to the debutants and unknown Cameroon side, with a goal by François Omam-Biyik in the 67th minute, in Group B. The team, led byMaradona and coached byCarlos Bilardo, then recovered with a 2-0 win over the Soviet Union and a 1-1 draw with Romania to accumulate 3 points and finish as one of the best third-placed teams, behind the African side (4) and the Eastern Europeans (3) on goal difference. In the round of 16 came the feared Brazil, but Argentina won 1-0, then triumphed 3-2 on penalties against Yugoslavia, thanks to the saves ofSergio Goycochea (who came in for the injuredNery Pumpido), after a 0-0 draw in the 90 regulation minutes and 30 of extra time. In the semi-finals, it was a 1-1 draw with Italy, who had not conceded any goals and was looking like a title candidate, and then came the penalty shootout victory (4-3) with another great performance from Goycochea. In the final, unfortunately, the team lost 0-1 to West Germany, with just minutes left in the match, after a controversial penalty awarded by the naturalized Mexican referee Edgardo Codesal, which Andreas Brehme converted. The albiceleste team will therefore seek to break this negative streak against Algeria and also get off to a good start to take revenge for the defeat suffered in the opening match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar against Saudi Arabia by 2-1.
